[Dec 05, 96 - 06:52] Jane Kelley of 1:138/255 wrote to Jerry Schwartz:
JS>>RF>> None.  The only thing he can not eat that gives him physical 
problems 
JS>>RF>> i sweet potatoes.  He's allergic.
JS>>JK> Worth finding out what he is allergic to.  There are supplements he 
can
JS>>JK> and should be taking. Otherwise, is nutrition lacks what he needs.
JS>>Are you saying that anyone who doesn't eat sweet potatoes is deficient in
JS>>some critical nutrients?  Or are you saying that everyone need 
supplements?
JK> It should be fairly obvious that anyone who has allergies will need some
JK> form of food supplement or a very excellent nutritionist to advise them
JK> how to compensate for what they must avoid.
Regina said the only thing her son cannot eat is sweet potatoes, and you 
responded that he should be taking supplements.  I venture to say that there 
are millions of people around the world living healthy lives without sweet 
potatoes: it sounds to me as though you have but one song to sing, and will 
sing it regardless of the occasion.
JK> For example, we are taught to get our calcium from milk.  That, however,
JK> isn't where the cows get it.  We need to take a very hard look at what
JK> we eat when we get into trouble with any food, or have any sort of
JK> chronic condition be it either "mental" or physical in nature.
Cows don't get their protein or iron from red meat, either: so what?  I agree 
that if you cannot obtain some essential nutrients from the most obvious 
source, that you need to seek out other sources; but that's a far cry from 
saying that every ill can be cured by "supplements" which in some vague way 
are different from medications.  So far as I can see, the only difference is 
the purity: medications are at least supposed to be exactly what they purport 
to be with regard to active ingredient and dosage, whereas supplements are 
rather catch as catch can by comparison.
Natural products often vary widely, as anyone who's gotten a strong onion or 
bitten into a sour fruit can testify.  Those skilled in Chinese medicine 
devote a great deal of attention to estimating the potency of their herbs, 
recognizing that the potency will vary from batch to batch.  I've never seen 
a supplement labelled "Early spring, rather dry weather, reduce dosage by 
30%" or anything of the sort.  If I thought that a supplement were really as 
powerful as it was claimed to be, I would be put off by this variability.  
Natural flavors are richer and more complex than artificial ones because of 
all of the sidenotes they bring along: this is usually good in a flavoring, 
but in something sold for medicinal purposes it suggests that we don't really 
know which component is doing what.
By the way, I notice you put the word "mental" in quotation marks.  The usual 
reasons for doing so are to refer to the literal word itself (as opposed to 
the concept), as I just did or to imply some sarcastic doubt as to the word's 
appropriateness.  I'm curious as to what you intended.
Jerry Schwartz
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